Monday, September 15, 2008

Them's buffler!

Yes, they are. And they have a friend. On my way back from the GY ranch the other day I came upon these guys. To the left of this picture there was a group of about thirty buffs with half a dozen pronghorns grazing among them. But by the time I stopped and unlimbered the camera the antelope had moseyed over the hill, leaving a single sentinel standing broadside to me. By the time I made the shot he had turned and started away. He's that little y-shaped blip just to the left of center frame.

I didn't realize he'd be so tiny in the final picture. Clicking on the picture will bring up the larger version which makes it easy to see his smiling face.

4 comments:

To think that these are just a tiny remnant of the vast herds that once roamed the American heartland. They were slaughtered in the millions both to feed settlers and railroaders and to deny the natives food, clothing and shelter derived from the buffalo.

My great-grandfather homesteaded on the High Plains. Farming wasn't a good occupation in the drought years of the late 1800s, so he made ends meet by running a freight line and gathering buffalo bones. The buffalo bones were sent back East and made into fertilizer.

As I understand it, the land was littered with countless thousands of buffalo skeletons.

They are indeed. I've helped on a couple of round-ups and "recovery missions" when fences have been broken with my UTV (which bulls tend not to like and have an annoying habit of flipping over) and it can be a scary process. You need to give them critters a wide berth and keep some escape room open!